He's overpaid compared, no doubt, but I think a lot of factors aren't really brought up. Okposo, Ladd and Nielsen were all on better teams, objectively, last year than Eriksson.
I am not defending the signing, but Okposo on Buffalo was a better fit, a better signing, and he plays with better (or at least more talented) players. Ladd as well. Nielsen out performed Eriksson, but Detroit did finish above us in the standings. Detroit outscored us by 20 points. Chicken and egg I suppose. The Islanders scored 59 more points, and Buffalo by 21.
There is a lot that could work into that, but we're scoring at a higher pace and now our results are Ladd has 15 points in 32 games, Okposo has 14 points in 31 games, Nielsen as 12 in 32 games, and while Eriksson is last, his ppg is higher then all of them with 11 points in 21 games.
It's a terrible contract, but I think it's that bad because our team was so much worse last year (not that it's great or even good now) it looked worse then the other bottom of the barrel signing the summer before last. Those are all brutal contracts, but saying Eriksson's is the worse based on the first year isn't telling the whole story. All 4 players got overpaid, all 4 are under performing compared to their last teams, all 4 GM's involved are slowly destroying their teams.
But what were our alternatives? Did we lost a big fish UFA of our own when we signed Eriksson? Has it impacted our signings this year? Are we in cap hell next year? Has our cap situation been bad enough to cost us a player through trade? Is Eriksson, specifically, keeping a kid out of the line up more then, say, Gagner, Burmistrov, Vanek, Del Zotto, Nilsstrom, Markstrom, Sutter, Gudbranson or Dorsett are/have? It isn't my money, and there aren't too many place I can say, given our options then and now, that would be a better use. Looking at the comparable list provided, I'd rather have Eriksson then Ladd, Okposo or Nielsen to be honest.
Again, a bad contract, I am not defending that, but it's not even Benning's worst signing, nor was it the worst handed out that year in my eyes. Does that justify it? No. Does it excuse it? No. But Loui Eriksson is not the biggest problem with our roster, and is a positive contributor. Especially compared to some players I listed by name...